Project Contemporary Artspace

Project will host two solo exhibitions by local artists Libby Bloxham (‘Beyond . Within’) and Alena Kennedy (‘Blink’). Bloxham, a sculptor and Kennedy, a painter have exhibited several times together as they believe that both the visual aspect and the ideas behind their works are compatible.

The artists are fascinated with the natural world and its patterns; sharing concerns for the health of the environment and well-being of the planet and its occupants. They exercise both an intuitive and conceptual approach in their practice, combining raw and elemental aspects in their works with details of intimate delicacy and thought-provoking meaning. Their appreciation of pattern similarities on macro and micro-cosmic scales leads them to create works of mystery and ambiguity. Feeling the connectedness of all things: “the Oneness” as Libby calls it and of a “presence profound and unbound by the limitations of space and time” according to Alena, they attempt to add this dimension to their works. This multi-layered approach encourages viewers to experience their art holistically and to come away feeling enriched by the experience.

With these solo exhibitions Kennedy and Bloxham are creating individual spaces which clearly define their individual character. Kennedy’s paintings reverberate around the room, glowing with jewel-like ‘windows’ of colour. Alternating areas of revelation and concealment give the effect of ‘blinking’: of seeing and not seeing. Patterns created by the natural interactions of paint with canvas may resemble aspects of landforms or billowing nebulas. Bloxham’s enigmatic assemblages, created from recycled and found materials, lead the viewer on a journey of discovery where one may find, in searching for what exists ‘beyond’, some of the mysteries ‘within’.

Beyond. within

Libby Bloxham

My work is almost always conceptual and an expression of my spiritual understanding and life experiences. I became interested in the patterns in nature that repeat themselves on many different scales and signify the ‘interconnectedness’ of all life. I then became very interested in the notion that nothing exists by itself but only within its relationship to everything and everyone else.

To examine and represent these ideas, my work for this exhibition is an attempt to fuse together the natural and the man-made. I am using waste from our society and our technology along with pieces found in nature, with their inherent beauty. I am trying to join them so they become one to create objects that represent this need for change.

© Libby Bloxham

Blink

Alena Kennedy

What happens when I blink?

Unconsciously I retreat from the present, surrendering to the unknown and unknowable and reconnecting with myself. In the blinking of my eyes my intuition reasserts itself, integrating with my thinking and helping me to find perspective.

A traveller through space and time, I jump continuously between this world and the Other, slipping along invisible threads that connect finite with infinite. For a tantalizing moment I am poised on the brink of understanding before returning to the here and now.

The experience escapes my conscious mind. But my body records aspects through my paintings in glimpses of abstract shapes and patterns. Jewel-like fragments of light and colour reveal my connections with the natural world: my place in this life: a blink in the eternal journey.

© Alena Kennedy